The Ombetja Yehinga Organisation (OYO) dance troupe performed its repertoire pieces ‘Another party with Helen’ and ‘Value thy Earth’ and held the public premiere of ‘Finlandia’ on Wednesday 22 February at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) to a full house.
During the event, OYO’s director, Dr Philippe Talavera, announced the OYO 2023 program. Highlights include the production of a cabaret ‘Remembering Johnny’ in collaboration with the FNCC and local schools in August, the production of an inter-disciplinary dance piece ‘Picasso’s letters’ in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain and the production of its new film as part of a project working with street kids, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Germany.
The OYO board chairperson, Theopolina Kueyo, then introduced OYO’s first Patron. ‘OYO just turned 20 years.’ She said ‘The organisation, thanks to its dedicated staff, past and present, reached many young people across Namibia. As an important milestone, we decided this year to invite a prominent person to become our Patron (…) We see our Patron as a respectable individual who knows and appreciates the work OYO does and can contribute to give us credibility. It gives me great pleasure to introduce today the first ever Patron for OYO: Hon. Yvonne Dausab, Minister of Justice’.
Hon. Yvonne Dausab took the stage to accept the honour: ‘It was not difficult to say yes to the invitation’, says Dausab ‘because OYO works from the heart. The work it does with dance and Arts is very commendable. It is reaching the youth in a way that is unique and impactful. I feel honour to be their first ever Patron.’
Dr Talavera commented ‘we are truly humbled Hon. Dausab accepted to become our Patron. She has interest in and has worked in the areas of access to justice, disability rights, children’s rights, constitutional and human rights law. Our values are very similar.’
As part of the evening, the dancers teased the audience with a surprised two minutes interlude on a French rock’n’roll song. A standing ovation closed the evening.